


Balance

by arobynsung



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Gen, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-05
Updated: 2014-08-05
Packaged: 2018-02-11 21:08:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2083176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arobynsung/pseuds/arobynsung
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“The Priestesses still keep the Isle, Sorceror.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Balance

Merlin felt the licks of magic clawing at him from the very ground he stood on.

A woman appeared, or perhaps she’d always been there. She studied him, acknowledged his confusion, “The Priestesses still keep the Isle, Sorceror.”

"Nimueh is dead. I made sure of it. The balance was restored."

The woman just looked at him, her white robe whipping in the windless air. "The balance has been restored, yes." Her words were too carefully structured for Merlin's liking, "But not because of Nimueh's death, Emrys."

"What do you mean?"

"The love you had for Arthur. That's what led you here. Ready to make the most terrible of choices." She cocked her head, "You cannot tell me that you really thought that your hate and rage would equal that balance?".

Merlin bristled. "Gaius lived." He lifted his chin, sure, "Nimueh died, and Gaius lives."

Her eyes are scornful, “If Gaius had died, the balance would have been restored.”

“But he didn’t. I killed Nimueh.”

She actually _smirked_ at this admission "Think carefully, Emrys. Love can only be balanced with love of equal measure." She turned her face away from him but Merlin could see the small smrik, "Can you honestly tell me that you've not lost a loved one?"

Merlin froze feeling suddenly cold. "I- no..." He felt suddenly less sure.

Balinor. Gods above, his father, Balinor. 

She turned back to him, Merlin could almost say her eyes were kind, "The old magic is wild, rash, unpredictable, and ruthless in its laws. It can also be quite patient when need requires it.” Her gaze cut him with its undeniable truth. "Man forgets, but the Magic always remembers."

He'd always carried the guilt of his father's death. It had weighed on him since but he'd had no idea. None. How was he to go back now? How was he to face his King and know that it was for Arthur his father died. And how many more have to die for this Once and Future King?

As if reading his mind, she answered, "Arthur wasn't meant to die. Not him." She smiled but it was more like a beast baring its teeth, "At least not then. He is the hope for a reunited Albion. The magic understands this destiny."

"Then why send the Questing Beast?" In the back of his mind he noticed that his voice sounded raw, as if in the moments just passed he'd been weeping endlessly.

The Priestess answered him. "We do not send the Questing Beast. It simply is. Like the Old Laws, it is." She paused as if considering whether to say more before she continued, "I can say that it was never meant for Arthur." Her eyes narrowed, "We sent warning, Emrys."

Merlin's memory flashed back to a shaken _Morgana_ running after them in the courtyard, begging them not to go.

"Through Morgana? You call that a warning. She didn't even know what she was Seeing!"

"Nothing's perfect. But if you want to blame someone, blame Uther. If not for his edicts, Morgana would have known of her powers, developed them at a young age."

"You can't do that. You can't just simply tie it back. You can't just wash your hands of responsibility!" Merlin was screaming now. "It doesn't work that way!"

"Which of us do you say that to, Emrys? You or me?"

The magic inside was begging now, begging to be unleashed. It was a tempting thought. He could let himself. Bring down the thunder and remove her from this place. Instinctively he knew he could remove this place. This isle. This history. He could banish it. Uther had done most of the work already. No one need know this was more than a wasteland. But he remembered Nimueh.

_Nimueh._

The realization came to him, sudden and not a little terrifying. "Nimueh isn't dead."

The woman's smile reached her eyes for the first time since they'd started talking, her grey eyes flashing the blue of a moonlit night-sky.

"Well met, Merlin."

**Author's Note:**

> Had this rattling around in my hard drive ever since we last saw Balinor and I've been a bit sore since we lost Nimueh. Just playing with some lost potential.


End file.
